What should I pay?

[road kill]

I've been looking for a cheap trailer for a 17' fiberglass V hull I have the chance to go get for free. I keep finding nothing but $1000 trailers. I found this one for $400 but it's painted and has a lot of surface rust. I only run in freshwater, and the trailer too comes from a freshwater area. Its older but has new lights and tires. The trailer had a wood boat on it, about 18' long. I was told it was stored in a barn for the past 30 years or so.
It basically just needs a wire brushing and a good heavy coat of Rustoleum to make it look nicer.

I'm not sure about the roller bunk arrangement though? The bunk adjustments are set screws which don't look like they've been moved in 50 years. I doubt if they will budge. I'm thinking of just bolting on two 4x6 bunks with four brackets right to the frame, that should give me about the right height for the boat I need to use it for. For now though I'm hoping this will get it home for now. Its about a 200 mile ride each way. The trailer is about halfway to where the boat is located too.

 

[Vanover]

Re: What should I pay?

check the bearings and lube them. For 400 i dont think you can go wrong. I paid 250 for a 15 footer not too long ago. Mine had bad tires too. Take your measurements and if it works do it.

 

[rwidman]

Re: What should I pay?

I've been looking for a cheap trailer for a 17' fiberglass V hull I have the chance to go get for free. I keep finding nothing but $1000 trailers. I found this one for $400 but it's painted and has a lot of surface rust. I only run in freshwater, and the trailer too comes from a freshwater area. Its older but has new lights and tires. The trailer had a wood boat on it, about 18' long. I was told it was stored in a barn for the past 30 years or so.
It basically just needs a wire brushing and a good heavy coat of Rustoleum to make it look nicer.

Consider that it will be rusted just as badly on the inside of the tubing where you can't see it.

You're putting a "free" boat on it so in that sense you don't have a lot to lose, but what if the trailer fails on the highway and causes an accident?

If you think you're capable of judging it's structural condition, and willing to invest in bearings, etc., make a decision and go with it.

Nobody can tell from a photo.

PS: Don't forget straps to strap the boat down to the trailer.

 

[sublauxation]

Re: What should I pay?

Before investing to much time money and effort in the bearings etc...keep in mind you can buy a new axle complete and ready to go for about $110. 8 nuts/bolts and you're done, no dirty greasy hands. Add new springs for another $30.

Looks like a nice trailer with good potential, a little surface rust just adds character. Mine is similar in size, took 3 cans of rust inhibitor and 8 cans of Rustoleum, but I'd guess the wind didn't help the can count any.

 

[mfgniagara]

Re: What should I pay?

Surface rust is no big deal, just make sure the tongue is good.

 

[road kill]

Re: What should I pay?

The axle is a solid steel 1 1/2" in diameter, the wheel bearings are well greased and feel good when the wheel is spun, and the tongue don't look original, someone made a custom tilt latch which uses a cane bolt type latch and a plate steel wedge where the frame and tongue meet. When it locks, it's tight and can't rattle. the hinge area has been redone too with a sleeve and brass bushings held together with a 3/4" bolt. The coupler is welded and is in good shape and I see no signs of rust in the tongue tube, it's clear all the way through when tilted and well painted. The worst rust is on the rims, but I suppose that will sand off too and just need some paint.

The bad part will be if I have to change the bunk set up, what is there won't likely be reusable since the clamps on the frame will not budge. The bolts will no doubt break and have to be cut. I prefer bolt on brackets anyhow but for now hopefully it'll work. I priced a new trailer and there's nothing under $1000 unless I was after a jon boat trailer.
The only thing I'd really need to do right away is add a tongue jack, the one on it is more like a kick stand on an old bike. It flips up and down, but don't look beefy enough to hold the weight of a boat. It was sitting on a pair of metal milk crates in the barn where he had it.

 

[Bob's Garage]

Re: What should I pay?

I'm probably wrong but it looks like the right axle/spindle is bent. If that's the case, and you end up buying new axle and maybe then springs and what not it seems like it's likely to get close to the coast of a new one.

It's just me, but I would feel better knowing I was pulling my boat on a new trailer specially if I was going 200 miles.

By the way, a miss-aligned axle/tire will wear out really quickly so carry spares.

 

[cribber]

Re: What should I pay?

Just gotta ask because the pics don't show the complete tongue. Is there a bow stop on this trailer?

 

[road kill]

Re: What should I pay?

The bow stop is there, looks original to the trailer.
I don't see any bent spindles? I went and got the trailer today.
The tires wore just fine for the trip home, I pulled the hubs and checked everything today and all looks fine. The one thing I did notice is that the wheel on one side isn't in the middle of the fender, but what I figured out is that the fenders are bolted on in different locations. There are three holes fore and aft of the axle on each side, the right side has the fender in the rear most holes, and the left in the front most holes for some reason. By the look of the bolts its been that way forever. The axle is equal distance from both ends of the springs on both sides so nothing is moved there.
The fender location is low on my list for right now, once I get the boat here and on stands I'll deal with fixing the fenders.

I'm thinking that I may want to change the height, I think I can get the whole thing a bit lower by flipping the axle on top of the springs and by changing to smaller, 5.30 x 8" wheels and tires. Right now it's got 5.30x12" tires and has 7 leaves per side plus a helper spring. I don't need that kind of capacity. The axle is solid steel, it's rusty looking but in no way compromised.
The frame itself is pretty heavy gauge steel, but the cross members are lighter and half as tall. One thing I thought was really cool was that all of the black keel rollers are made with 1/2" flat steel frames, nylon bushings, and stainless roller bearings held in place with shims and cotter pins. Each one is raised up 5/8" off the frame on a piece of composite of some type with a small ground strap. Each roller has a 3/4" shaft. The guy said he got tired of the stamped metal type bending so he made something that will never fail.
The only problem is that they bolt to the top edge of the cross members not the face therefore the height is no adjustable. Since his boat was wider than the fenders, I think he was just trying to get the max height out the rollers.
Either way, they will work for now, at least till I get the boat home.
The larger wheels will do better on the highway anyhow.

I still don't see why the bunks are so far forward? All of the support is mid ship on the hull, and only that odd four roller keel roller stand under the transom. If this ends up being the boats permanent trailer, the keel rollers and bunks will all get changed out or rearranged.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: What should I pay?

That's like a $150 trailer in my area.

 

[erie_guy]

Re: What should I pay?

New adjustable bunks and keel rollers would probably be needed to correctly fit your specific boat hull. That will cost an additional $100-$150. Often the winch need upgrading, ~$50, and the tounge jack can be another $50. I would offer no more than $200.

erie_guy
Port Clinton, OH

 

[road kill]

Re: What should I pay?

I looked and looked and found nothing that wasn't either rusted completely away or needed major attention before use, or they wanted big money. This was ready to use as it sits. I went after the boat yesterday after work, got back early this morning after a long ride both ways, the trailer did fine, the bunks fit perfect but I do need to get them back further. I put the boat on blocks on the trailer, I sort of jacked up one side at a time. Only the forward bunk support needed to be moved as I just swung each roller bunk around backwards. I had to cut the bolt that held the clamp, but I just welded on new nuts and used new 1/2" bolts to reclamp the bunk. It works much better now and the last roller comes just about even with the back of the boat. I did find a rust hole in the side of the tongue, but I just torched that end off and shortened it a bit. It looked like there may have been a roller clamped on there at some point. I also need to move the axle back a bit for more tongue weight, I will most likely cut the bolt on spring hangers apart and weld them direct to some angle iron and make the whole axle carriage adjustable. Right now there is only one set of three holes at each spring hanger.

Loading the boat there was easier than I thought, when I got there he had the whole boat hanging from a tree on a sling, I just backed under it and we set the boat down. I only wish I had a tree that big here.
The trailer pulls great, I didn't even feel it behind my car. I almost forgot it was back there a few times and found myself going well over 90 mph. I put the new tires on it but one of them won't seat right to the rim. I finally broke it down and slathered up the bead with bead sealer. The one rim had some cracks starting so I welded those up while the tire was off. I probably should have painted the rims but they will only rust again anyhow.

I took two rusty old spares with me just in case too. About ten miles from home I passed a guy with a brand new looking trailer and an aluminum bass boat with two flat tires. I stopped and gave away the two old spares. He gave me his two wheels he took off. So now I'm rid of two old cracked tires and rusty rims, and have two near new galvanize spoked rims to put my new tires on. I wasn't going to take his old rims but he insisted, he also wanted my address to mail me some money for the two tires, but I just left. He's happy, he got where he was going, I got two new rims.

I'll most likely toss those two roller bunks on my trailer and just put on two 4' pieces of 2x6 with some new carpet too, those things look too short to me. They're only about 24" long.

I didn't worry about having a winch since we hoisted the boat onto the trailer. I just tied the bow eye down to the tongue with a ratchet strap and put on two straps around the hull to hold down the stern. It never moved. The bow stop is a bit high, I'll have to cut that down later. It hits the boat nearly at the rub rail and if I did put a winch on it, the cable would have to pass over the bow roller and down to the bow eye. I'll just measure and cut it to fit so the winch lines up with the bow eye. I'll add a second roller too so the cable can't rise up on a sudden stop.